Jax Attacks!
Riot·4/25/2014, 7:04:06 PM·0 votes·3,057 views
Just a few weeks ago, it looked as though Renekton would be the dominant top laner forever. Doran's Shield was nerfed to allow other champions to step into the scene, but it only made Renekton stronger, as nobody could sustain through his early game power. Nobody particularly expected Jax to be one of the champions who would rise onto the scene, simply because Renekton has been considered a Jax counter for so long.
However, the changes in patch 4.5 changed the game drastically.
Lane swaps have been nearly ubiquitous in the 4.5 patch. According to Cloud 9's Balls, there are a few reasons why lane swaps are extremely beneficial to Jax.
First, he is a strong pusher, due to his auto-attack reliance and his auto-attack reset. This guarantees that his team will have at least an equally strong 4v0 push as the other team.
Second, his weakness is his early game. Jax is weak from levels 1-5, and he is also weak before he can finish Blade of the Ruined King. Lane Swaps do not get him all the way through that phase, but he spends the first part of the game in a 4v0, and the second part slow-pushing in a safe lane. This lets him avoid early game bullying by his lane opponents.
However, this is clearly not the only thing playing in Jax's behavior. Cloud 9 picked Jax into Renekton twice vs TSM. Why?
The first change is obvious: Renekton took a nerf to the health and AoE DPS on his ultimate at early levels, which gives him less power to bully Jax early. And while his late game health/AoE were buffed, the change was by no means enough to let him stand toe-to-toe with the split-push power of Jax.
However, there was one final reason Jax took off: summoner spell changes. The sudden surge in exhaust and heal made it much harder to take down tanky targets over time, while simultaneously weakening assassins. Balls was also motivated by the fact that “no one takes ignite now”, making it almost impossible to all-in in lane.
The combination of all of these factors is that “Jax can actually survive lane” now, and with no early game downside, it's hard to imagine a reason you wouldn't want Jax: hyper scaling late-game on champion who can split-push or teamfight? What's not to love?
Jax was banned 11 times in the EU playoffs, and picked 5 times, for a record of 4-1 and a KDA ratio of 4.2. His only loss coming at the hands of Fnatic, where sOAZ was able to beat Jax handily with his top Lulu. Presumably as a result of this dominance, the finals between SK Gaming and Fnatic were the only series where Jax wasn't picked or banned every game.
In North America, Jax was banned or picked in every game, with 10 bans, 8 picks, a 7-1 record, and a KDA ratio of 3.94.
In the end, Jax didn't really get stronger. But everything that made him weak is that much easier to ignore now, and the overall result is one angry split-pusher.
Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman is a League of Legends mathcrafter turned esports journalist who spends his spare time staring at mountains of League of Legends data. Follow him @GentlemanGustaf on Twitter.
Whose Lane is it Anyway?
Lane swaps have been nearly ubiquitous in the 4.5 patch. According to Cloud 9's Balls, there are a few reasons why lane swaps are extremely beneficial to Jax.
First, he is a strong pusher, due to his auto-attack reliance and his auto-attack reset. This guarantees that his team will have at least an equally strong 4v0 push as the other team.
Second, his weakness is his early game. Jax is weak from levels 1-5, and he is also weak before he can finish Blade of the Ruined King. Lane Swaps do not get him all the way through that phase, but he spends the first part of the game in a 4v0, and the second part slow-pushing in a safe lane. This lets him avoid early game bullying by his lane opponents.
However, this is clearly not the only thing playing in Jax's behavior. Cloud 9 picked Jax into Renekton twice vs TSM. Why?
The Butchered Sands
The first change is obvious: Renekton took a nerf to the health and AoE DPS on his ultimate at early levels, which gives him less power to bully Jax early. And while his late game health/AoE were buffed, the change was by no means enough to let him stand toe-to-toe with the split-push power of Jax.
Teleport Changes
The teleport changes were also a huge boon to Jax. Typically, teleport has served as a trade-off: weaker laning overall, but stronger split-pushing late game. However, with the lower cooldown on teleports to towers, the weakness in lane is significantly lowered, as players can use teleport as a sort of reset button, allowing them to heal and buy items. This is obviously super beneficial to Jax, as he has never really used teleport to roam, leading to an overall stronger laning phase. With teleport on a low cooldown, he can make up for Renekton's bullying strength, or as Balls put it, “Jax can survive lanes with Teleport, and I [am] sure that my team would pull through to the late game where I outscale Renekton and split push”.A Healthy Jax is a Happy Jax
However, there was one final reason Jax took off: summoner spell changes. The sudden surge in exhaust and heal made it much harder to take down tanky targets over time, while simultaneously weakening assassins. Balls was also motivated by the fact that “no one takes ignite now”, making it almost impossible to all-in in lane.
The combination of all of these factors is that “Jax can actually survive lane” now, and with no early game downside, it's hard to imagine a reason you wouldn't want Jax: hyper scaling late-game on champion who can split-push or teamfight? What's not to love?
Results
The numbers don't lie. The playoffs saw a huge uptick in Jax picks, with Balls being far from the only top laner to pick up Jax. Overall, Jax was played by 7 different top laners (out of the 12 in the playoffs)
Jax was banned 11 times in the EU playoffs, and picked 5 times, for a record of 4-1 and a KDA ratio of 4.2. His only loss coming at the hands of Fnatic, where sOAZ was able to beat Jax handily with his top Lulu. Presumably as a result of this dominance, the finals between SK Gaming and Fnatic were the only series where Jax wasn't picked or banned every game.
In North America, Jax was banned or picked in every game, with 10 bans, 8 picks, a 7-1 record, and a KDA ratio of 3.94.
In the end, Jax didn't really get stronger. But everything that made him weak is that much easier to ignore now, and the overall result is one angry split-pusher.
Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman is a League of Legends mathcrafter turned esports journalist who spends his spare time staring at mountains of League of Legends data. Follow him @GentlemanGustaf on Twitter.
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